HDCD stands for High Definition Compatible Digital and is fully compatible with all current CD and DVD players.
HDCD involves some sort of proprietary, "pseudo" 20 Bit encoding. To take advantage of a CD's HDCD encoding, an appropriate decoder must be located somewhere in the playback chain (CD player, external D/A Converter, A/V Receiver) for the extra bits and musical info to be retrieved and reproduced.
The only OST HDCD's I have are Rosewood and Independence Day though don't have a decoder to take advantage... : (
I know this thread is old, but are current Blu-ray players able to decode HDCD?
Some are. I believe most, if not all, Oppo players will decode them. They also play DVD-Audio and SACD's. They're nice players, but cost slightly more for good reason.
They're nice players, but cost slightly more for good reason.
I love my Oppo.
Also: the additional information will follow the track if it's copied, at least to another CD. I had a mix CD with a cue from Independence Day on it, and the HDCD flag on the Oppo came up.
